The Milward Story... So Far Blog

Third Movement Completed

Steve — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:14:36 +0100

The Third Movement of the Clarinet Quintet is complete and has been published to the website here. It is an Andante dance movement. The Fourth and final movement will be started soon.

Clarinet Quintet

Steve — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:32:50 +0100

My latest composition, a Clarinet Quintet 'For Sam' is coming along well. The first two movements are published to the website here and the third is being composed now. I've been working on it this morning and it is taking shape.

String Quartet Completed

Steve — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:38:46 +0100

I've finished the String Quartet today. I've called it 'For Denise' in honour of my wonderful wife. You can listen to it at http://bit.ly/1orRI

I'm not yet sure what to move on to. Perhaps another Chamber piece.

String Quartet

Steve — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:22:55 +0100

I've completed the first movement of the String Quartet. I've yet to decide whether to publish it to the website now, or wait until the other movements have been completed. I've really enjoyed doing it and it may lead me to write for other chamber groups.

In The Court Of Tsar Peter

Steve — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:38:51 +0100

My new piece 'In The Court Of Tsar Peter' has been completed and has been published to the website here. It portrays a day in the life of the Tsar, dealing with important sections of Russian society. I hope you like it.

I'll be starting a new piece soon - I can't stop the creative juices flowing yet!

Another new piece

Steve — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:14:53 +0100

I've started another new piece that as yet doesn't have a name. It's going to be quite rhythmic and punchy, using Garritan Personal Orchestra. Looking forward to working on it.

'Hopes And Fears' Published.

Steve — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:31:08 +0100

'Hopes And Fears' has been published to the website today. It's a larger piece than those that make up 'Requiem Without Words' and I hope you enjoy it.

New Piece Started

Steve — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:16:07 +0100

I've started putting down ideas for a new piece, provisionally called 'Hopes And Fears'. It's an orchestral piece using Garritan. It's my intention to work on it in a more concentrated form than the 'Requiem Without Words'. We'll see how it goes. I certainly learned a lot from the Requiem.

Re-orchestrating

Steve — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:46:40 +0100

I'm re-orchestrating 'Requiem Without Words' with Garritan and having great fun. The difference in sound is amazing. I'll post the new Requiem to the website when it's completed, which should be soon.

Birthday time

Steve — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:11:45 +0100

Great birthday today. Garritan Personal Orchestra V4, a jacket, a bbq wok.... and it looks like a new preamp for the microphone tomorrow. GPO is very different sounding to Halion Symphonic Orchestra which I have been using. Much more detailed sounds and control.

New Wedding Jewellery

Steve — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:04:17 +0100

Denise has her range of wedding jewellery on the website now. You can take a look here. She has everything from bespoke wedding accessories, tiaras, clips and combs and jewellery for bridesmaids. If you have a wedding coming up, please take a look at Denise's range.

Video of In Paradisum published

Steve — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:43:49 +0100

The video of In Paradisum has been published today on the music page of the web site. It shows a section of the score and some of the images that portray some of my paradise on earth. I hope you like it.

The video can also be found on YouTube here.

Please comment on what you think to it.

Video of 'In Paradisum'

Steve — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:44:49 +0100

I'm working on a video for 'In Paradisum' that will eventually find itself on YouTube. I hope to publish it in the next day or so.

Having a barbecue this afternoon since the weather is so good and the garden has been worked on.

Firefox v IE8

Steve — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:37:10 +0100

I've had no problems with Firefox 3.5 playing the music from the music page on the site, but it wouldn't play in IE8.

I've re-coded the page and now IE8 works. Frankly, IE8 stinks and doesn't come close to Firefox. If you don't use Firefox, do yourself a huge favour and get it from here.

'Requiem Without Words' is now complete

Steve — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:45:00 +0100

'Requiem Without Words' is now complete - finished this afternoon. The 'Dies Irae' was the last movement to be worked on, even though it's the fourth movement of seven. Have a listen on the music page of the website here.

It's Denise's birthday today - 21 again. She's more beautiful than ever.

Blog Comments

Steve — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:41:50 +0100

You can now comment on the blog without having to sign in or sign up to an account. Hope that helps.

In Paradisum Completed

Steve — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:40:56 +0100

The 'In Paradisum' has been completed and can be heard on the web site. I've decided that the Requiem will have seven movements, with the final movement to be completed being 'Dies Irae'.

Sutton Centre Reunion And New Pieces

Steve — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:51:39 +0100

Denise and I had a great time at the Sutton Centre Reunion last night. It was wonderful to see my students again and catch up with people.

There's two new pieces on the website - 'Offertorium' and 'Pie Jesu'. I'm aiming to have seven to eight pieces in the Requiem, which I'm really enjoying working on.

'Requiem Aeternam' Completed

Steve — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:35:32 +0100

The first movement of 'Requiem Without Words', 'Requiem Aeternam' has been completed and is posted to the website. It isn't a sad sounding piece at all, but quite rhythmic and powerful in places.

I'm loving working on this project and really enjoy the orchestration aspects.

Acronis True Image Home 2009

Steve — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:20:29 +0100

I have always used backup software - it's helped me out of difficulties so many times. I've gone to using Acronis True Image Home 2009 on one of my computers today, upgrading from a previous version. I'll see if it's worth doing the other computer after running a backup.

If you don't have backup software, you are asking for trouble. You will need it in due course. I've ordered a new hard drive and will restore to that when it arrives. That will tell me if it's worth upgrading the laptop.

Requiem started

Steve — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:50:48 +0100

I've started the composition of a 'Requiem Without Words'. The first two sections completed, 'Sanctus' and 'Agnus Dei' are on the website. Take a listen, what do you think?

I'm not a religious person, yet religious music can be great.

Flute music completed

Steve — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:24:49 +0100

My collection of flute music is now complete with the publication of the final track called 'Friday'. Again, it uses some of the new features found in Cubase 5.

I've really enjoyed composing for flute in a variety of different styles. It's made me think out of my comfort zone. I'm now going to move on to an orchestral piece, but that will need a lot of preparatory work and may take a significant time to develop.

New Track - Mash

Steve — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:44:40 +0100

There's a new track on the web site called 'Mash', which is in a very different style than my usual one. I'm finding the Cubase 5 really helps creativity with it's new features. Great!

You Know Where I've Been

Steve — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:14:19 +0100

I've posted a new music track today called 'You Know Where I've Been'. It uses two of Cubase 5's new features - Loopmash and Reverence. It's a little experiment to work out a few things about them. Take a listen here.

New music track

Steve — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:51:13 +0100

There's a new track on the website called 'There's No Reason'. It's a short track with Cubase 5 and for the first time I've worked with a vocal sample. Cubase 5 is wonderful with audio, having limitless possibilities. I'm going to love working with it.

You can hear 'There's No Reason' here.

Cubase 5

Steve — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:32:09 +0100

I've bought Cubase 5 today, the latest and greatest Digital Audio Workstation. I've been using Cubase since it first appeared in 1989, so I've grown up with it so to speak. Cubase 5 is a monster and will take a while to learn, but that's half the fun!

I've also been thinking about composing an orchestral work and I have HALion Symphonic Orchestra to use. So when I've learnt a bit more about Cubase 5 with its wonders, I'll have to start coming up with ideas.

New Track

Steve — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:36:52 +0100

I've posted a new music track today called 'Sequence'. It's a bit dark and moody, but I enjoyed doing it all the same. Listen to it here.

Craft Fair at Retford

Steve — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:02:25 +0100

Denise and I had a stall at a craft fair in Retford this morning. The problem was that no-one seemed to know anything about it and there were few customers. Can't say that we were impressed with the organisation.

On a happier note, I've been playing with the Arturia Moog Modular synth this afternoon, which is wonderful. Very moody and dark at times.

Hard drives and grunts

Steve — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:09:57 +0100

Well, it seems that the problem with Delta was a faulty hard drive. It was a Western Digital 500 gb unit. I'll never again buy WD. I've got a Samsung Spinpoint in there now and it's great.

Are you just loving the grunts at Wimbledon? There's one woman, I forget her name, who really ought to be disqualified for the amount of noise she makes. I haven't heard a sound like that since I left College!

The new Yamaha is great. I'm getting used to the new action and I'm looking forward to getting down to some serious music making soon.

What a day

Steve — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:05:44 +0100

What a day Friday was.

Michael Jackson dead - very sad, especially for our generation who grew up with his music.

We then decided to get a new keyboard controller and after a visit to Nottingham came back with a Yamaha KX8. A large, 88 note controller, it should be a great improvement over the previous Yamaha. It's meant that our music room has had to be re-arranged. The only problem is that the computer that it will be attached to - Delta - has developed a really annoying fault, which after much work seems to be because of a Windows Update altering files. At least that is what it looks like at the moment. Very frustrating.